Electron tube lead adapter



Jan. 13, 1959 H. C. PLEAK ELECTRON TUBE LEAD ADAPTER Filed July 2, 1956IN VENTOR H ORACE C. PLEAK ATTORNEY United. States Patent P 2,869,104ELECTRON TUBE LEAD ADAPTER Horace Pleak, Emporium, Pa., assignor toSylvania Electric Products Inc., a corporation of MassachusettsApplication July 2,1956, Serial No. 595,411 3 Claims. c1. ass-14s Thisinvention relates to adapters for use with an electron tube or otherdevice having a circular array of long flexible lead-ins in order todress the lead-ins at right angles so that the tube or device may beplugged into a receptacle in a chassis or the like and lie parallel tothe chassis. The adapters are particularly useful with deviceshavinglong flexible lead-ins which are to be pushed through a member havingholes lying in a geometrical pattern, and, if desired, soldered toconductors on the back of the member after passage through the holes.

In the prior art, it had been the practice where it was desired to mountelectron tubes having long flexible leads parallel -to the chassis tomake the base of the tube with a flat press bringing out all of theleads in a linear array and thereafter bending the leads at right anglesso that they may be thrust in to a socket or the like in a chassis withthe tube parallel to the chassis. But this type of construction forconventional sized tubes brings the leads, at least at the base of thetube. nearer together than where the leads emerge in circular array fromthe base of the tube.

It is an object of the invention to provide an adapter which shallreceive leads arranged in a circular geometric pattern and dress them sothat the leads, as they emerge from the adapter, may be arranged atright angles to the leads as they were received by the adapter and in anarray to enable easy plugging of the wires into a socket in a chassisor. through suitably arranged holes in the chassis.

It is a further object of the invention to make this adapter of suchform that it may be close to the base of the device from which the leadsemerge so as to prevent short circuiting of these leads between the baseand the adapter.

It is a still further object of the invention to make the adapter ofsuch a configuration, at the surface where the long flexible leadsemerge from the adapter as to facilitate the proper bending andpositioning of the leads.

These and other objects will become apparent after reading the followingspecification and claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing inwhich:

Fig. 1 shows, in perspective, an adapter threaded over the lead-ins ofan electron tube with the ends of the leadins bent ready for plugginginto a receptacle or chassis.

Fig. 2 shows a similar view utilizing a modified form of adapter.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the adapter utilized in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same adapter, the bores in the adapterbeing shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the same adapter.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the adapter utilized in Fig. 2.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the adapter of Fig. 2, the bores in theadapter being shown in dotted lines; and

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the adapter of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, at 10 there is indicated anelectron tube having a circular base with a number of long flexibleleads 12 extending from the 2,869,104 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 base. Inthe embodiment shown there are eight such leads but there may be alesser number with the particular adapter shown. g

The adapter of Fig. 1 comprises an insulating member 14 having a planarcircular face on the side close to the tube 10 and a stepped surface 16on the opposite face. With eight leads there are four treads 18, fromwhich the leads extend, two leads for each tread. Leading through themember from the plane face to the stepped face are bores 20 registeringwith the lead-ins as they emerge from the base of tube 10.

It can be seen that this adapter can easily be threaded over thelead-ins and pushed snugly up against the base of the tube to which itmay be cemented, if desired. The leads protruding through the bores maythen be easily bent at right angles hard up against the treads thusprovid ing flexible lead extensions which are so arranged geometricallyas to be easily plugged into a socket in a chassis with .a circular orelliptical array of holes. The bent ends of the flexible leads may bespaced as desired by increasing or decreasing the height of the risers22. Where more than eight leads emerge from the base of the tube, theadapter will have the number of treads increased.

In accordance with the modifications of adapter of Figs. 2 .and 4 to 8 adifferent spacing of the bent ends of the leads 12 may be obtained. Inthis form of adapter there is a topmost tread arranged a little to oneside of a diameter across a face of the adapter and treads 34-, 36 and38 leading away from the top tread. The top tread has a recess 40 ateach end each communicating with a bore 42 through the adapter. This isprovided so that two of the flexible leads may be brought out throughthe bores 42, the leads being then bent at right angles so that they arealigned, and then again bent around the end wall of slots 42 intoparallel alignment and in substantial alignment with the leadsprojecting through the tread 38, as seen in Fig. 2. The tread 36 ischordally arranged and has slots 44 at its ends which run substantiallyat an angle of 45 with respect to the chord and are of a depth to allowleads threaded through bores 46 to be brought out first at an angle of45 parallel to the plane of tread 36 and then parallel to one another asshown in Fig. 2.

The leads through bores 48 are bent into parallelism hard against thetread 38. Thus six leads are brought into parallelism in substantiallyone plane. The leads 54, through bores 52, are brought up over the tread32 and then bent at right angles thereover into parallelism with oneanother and the other leads 48. Thus all of the leads form two lines ofspaced parallel members which may easily be passed through a matingsocket or mating holes.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is:

1. An adapter for electric components having an array of circularlyarranged leads projecting from its base, said adapter comprising amember having a plane face with bores in a circular array extendingentirely through the member and perpendicular to said face, said memberbeing stepped on the end thereof opposed to the plane face, with thebores leading through treads of the stepped face, one of said treadsbeing substantially along a diameter of the circular array of bores andprovided with slots at the ends, which slots extend parallel with thesaid diameter.

2. An adapter for electric components having an array of circularlyarranged leads projecting from its base, said adapter comprising amember having a plane face with bores in a circular array extendingentirely through the member and perpendicular to said face, said memberbeing stepped on the end thereof opposed to the plane face, with thebores leading through treads of the stepped face, one of said treadsbeing substantially along a chord of the circular array of bores andprovided with slots at the ends of and in the plane of the tread at anangle of substantially 45 With respect to said chord, said slotsextending from the bores to the periphery of the member.

3. A combined electron tube and adapter, said tube at its base beingprovided With a circular array of electrode leads Which, exteriorly ofthe tube, are long and flexible, said adapter comprising a body Withbores extending from one face of the body to the other, the bores beingin circular array and spaced apart to register with the leads where theyemerge from the base of the tube, the body having aplane faceperpendicular to the bores at the portion thereof closest to the tubeand a stepped face at the opposite portion thereof, said leads extendingthrough said bores and bent into parallelism with each other and withthe plane face of the body, the bores terminating in the stepped face intreads and the bent parallel Wires engaging the treads of the steppedface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS456,611 Balsley July 28, 1891 1,325,865 Shreeve Dec. 23, 1919 1,697,946Bonanno Jan. 8, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 335,541 Great Britain Sept. 24,1930

